Although Ted Cruz’s forty-third birthday is still a few months away on Dec. 22, it is already playing havoc with Republican planners accustomed to scheduling the traditional Lincoln Day Dinners in February. These celebratory events must now be converted into Cruz Day Dinners just three days before Christmas for the Tea Partyers but at the risk of being accused by Bill O’Reilly of downgrading Jesus (Who appears on his speed dial!) as a 47 percenter. As one county chairman was heard to mutter: “Jesus or Cruz? It’s damned tough being a Republican these days.”

The Heritage Foundation released yet another right-wing “study” of exchange prices. The only compliment that I have for it is that its fallacies are more transparent than in other right-wing “studies”.

Ultimately, if you want to know what exchange insurance will cost, you should go to www.healthcare.gov.

1. They ignore the uninsured entirely. They’re talking about the existing individual market; that is, people who don’t get employer-provided coverage and buy plans directly from insurance companies. That’s about 6% of the population.

There’s another 18% of the population who is in the individual market but can’t afford a plan. […]